Thursday, 27 October 2011

My second Autumn Green Carpet of the year but first for the garden. This moth and its close relative the Red-green Carpet would make an interesting study. Both moths over-winter as the adult female and feed on a range of broad-leaved trees but whilst the Red-green first appeared in Derbyshire in the late 1980's and has become steadily commoner, expanding its range the Autumn Green has remained scarce in Derbyshire and is declining in southern Britain at least.

Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Caught my first Red Sword-grass for the garden last night, I have previously caught it at Clough Wood in the spring and Simon Roddis has also caught it on three or four occasions in Darley Dale so present in very low numbers in the area, otherwise the catch was similar to last night.

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

The majority of Epirrita I catch are almost uniform grey with little sign of any banding and no discal spot, these are two well marked individuals by my standards both of which I think conform to November Moth with regard to the shape of the post-median fascia even though the discal spot is well clear of the fascia.Another reasonable catch last night with 2 Barred Sallow, another Feathered Thorn, 9 November Moths, 4 Brick, Merveille du Jour, 4 Yellow-line Quaker, Red-line Quaker, 3 Satellite, 2 Juniper Carpet, Angle Shades, Chestnut and a Brown-spot Pinion.

Didn't pay all that much attention to this micro when we caught it last week, it's not in very good condition but looking at the photo it is clearly Acleris rhombana which is probably fairly common in the area.

Overnight on the 20th the minimum temperature was around 8 Centigrade and a few moths took advantage of the warmer weather; 9 November Moth, 2 Juniper Carpet, Green-brindled Crescent, Yellow-line Quaker, Red-line Quaker and a Chestnut.

This is the micro from last night, Diurnea lipsiella, a male, the female like fagella has under developed wings. Not sure of the status in Derbyshire but I would imagine it is fairly common in mature oak woodland.

Sunday, 16 October 2011

With poor weather forecast I took the opportunity to trap again in Clough Wood this evening with Brian Statham and Simon Roddis. Despite falling temperatures, due to the cloudless sky, there were a few moths flying which included The Streak which was unexpected, although fairly widespread particularly as lavae on Broom the food plant.Also recorded Red-green Carpet, 5 November Moth, 4 Green-brindled Crescent, The Brick, 3 Yellow-line Quaker, Barred Sallow, Lesser-yellow Underwing, 3 Chestnut and a micro still to id. The Streak makes it 300 macro moths for the year.

Another Large Wainscott last night (fourth of the autumn) plus a fresh Grey Shoulder-knot which has a bit more colour than the over-wintered adult photographed in March. Single Juniper Carpet and three Green-brindled Crescent were the only other moths with the temperature falling to 4 Centigrade.

Saturday, 15 October 2011

Saw my first Fieldfare and Redwing of the autumn this morning, apparently 20,000 were estimated passing over the Big Moor area yesterday. There were several hundred on Bent Lane and at least one 1W Ring Ousel still present. Also several Crossbill in the area, Goshawk over Flash Lane and male Peregrine on Beeley.

Friday, 14 October 2011

Another 2 Large Wainscott last night, some of the south coast sites are picking up large numbers with 30 at Pagham Harbour last night so this looks like a significant immigration, a couple of Juniper Carpet and another Feathered Thorn were the only other moths of note.

Thursday, 13 October 2011

At last migrant moths arrive in the Peak District, on the 11th I caught 2 Rusty-dot Pearl and a single Vestal. Amazing to think these have probably arrived from Southern Europe. Both species are scarce in Derbyshire although number vary. We had a power cut last night so limited trapping although it was very dark!

Saturday, 8 October 2011

Last few days have been quiet but caught a second Large Wainscott on 4th October. This morning there was a pair of Ring Ousel on Bent Lane, the female may have been there for a couple of weeks based on earlier reports from Ken Smith. Only a record shot I'm afraid. There were at least 40 Crossbills around the Flash Lane Whitesprings area.

Thursday, 6 October 2011

Struggled a bit with the identification of this micro but having checked it against quite a few photos I'm happy to call it Eudonia angustea, it has a long and narrow winged appearance compared to the commoner Scopariinae.

On the back of Brian Statham's record in Matlock and Simon Roddis's 5 in Darley Dale I have finally added Large Wainscott to the garden list.Four Eppirita which I am recording as November Moth, all are poorly marked. Also 6 Blair's Shoulder-knot, 3 Green-brindled Crescent, 3 Angle Shades, 3 Spruce Carpet, and 3 Barred Sallow.

Monday, 3 October 2011

Still catching plenty of moths at home but the number of new moths is unsurprisingly drying up. Howver, last night produced the Firethorn Leaf Miner Phyllonorycter leucographella - a nice looking moth but very small!Twenty-one species in total with 4 November Moths, 2 Feathered Thorn, 2 Brick, Orange Sallow and another Pale-mottled Willow.

Saturday, 1 October 2011

Travelled to Hartington Quarry with Brian Statham and Simon Roddis and set up traps by the quarry entrance with the temperature at 18 Centigrade we were hoping for a decent number of moths with Brindled Ochre the main target. In all we caught 6 moths of 5 species in 2 hours, it difficult to explain such a poor catch in what appeared to be ideal conditions.Fortunately for us one of the 6 was a female Deep-brown Dart a Derbyshire rarity. The status of this species and the Northern Deep-brown Dart is still somewhat unclear, so can't entirely rule this out although the habitat certainly favours the former.The most recently reported Derbyshire records are attributed to the Northern Deep-brown Dart involving two individuals taken separately at Pleasley and Creswell in the NE of the county in 2006.

Caught a second Dark Sword-grass last night along with 3 Silver Y which is an indication of some moth migration. Another Merveille du Jour, Snout, 3 Brick, 2 Pale-mottled Willow, Barred Sallow, Red-line Quaker, and Frosted Orange.

A good evening but nothing new to add to the year list. At least 20 Barred Sallow, 5 Orange Sallow, Brick, Merveille du Jour and the first Satellite for some time. I'm sure I've caught this micro before but can't immediately put a name to it - I'll add it later.Finally found it - Pseudargyrotoza conwagana